Residents of Enugu State on Sunday, April 12th, 2020 condemned the closure of the popular Akwatta Market where foodstuffs like yam, tomatoes, oil and other food items were being sold over alleged booing of the Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, on Friday, April 10th, 2020.

Governor Ugwuanyi was said to have visited the major market in the state capital, Ogbete Main Market, to observe how people were complying with the executive order that all the markets in the state, with the exemption of food markets, be shut down, as part of the measures to curb the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the state.

But when he arrived at the market, those selling non-essential products like wears had taken over the food section of the market and the the governor was said to have ordered them to vacate the market, since they were not exempted to trade.

The traders were said to have been enraged by the governor’s directive and they booed him, while some called him names.

But some of the residents who spoke to Flavision on Sunday, April 12th described the total closure of the market on account of the incident as inhumane and indicated Uguanyi’s’s intolerance to dissenting voices.

However, the state government has debunked all the allegations.

The Chairman of Enugu North Local Government Area, Emeka Onunze, personally signed a statement that said the allegations were

false, misleading, baseless, mischievous and a failed calculated attempt to undermine our genuine efforts to upgrade the environmental condition of the market for the health and wellbeing of our people.

Onunze said,

We have temporarily relocated the traders of the Tomato market in Akwatta to Garki Market, Enugu, to enable the council rebuild the section of the Ogbete Main Market to standard before they return to the market to continue their business transactions.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.